


Soul of a Stone

by ScribbleWriting65



Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Artificial Intelligence, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-09
Updated: 2019-07-09
Packaged: 2020-06-25 09:33:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,536
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19742950
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ScribbleWriting65/pseuds/ScribbleWriting65
Summary: Even when you awake, bare and lost, you are never truly alone.





	Soul of a Stone

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys! Here's my latest work: An AU for Breath of the Wild! In this world, the Sheikah Slate has an A.I. in it to help Link. I thought this would be cool to write about, for both explaining the game's mechanics (Inventory, trackers, etc.) and for exploring what interactions could come about from this. Tell me what you think in the comments, and have a good day!

“Open your eyes.”

A brilliant white light pierced the darkness, allowing blue and brown designs to capture his vision.

“Open your eyes…Wake up Link.”

He slowly obeyed the voice, feeling liquid recede around his body. Link rose from his position, taking in his dark but peaceful surroundings with curiosity entering his mind. He lifted himself out of his resting place, hearing small hums around him as he eyed a blue circle in the darkness. Link walked over to the circle, which glowed even brighter and rotated when he approached, lifting a small stone tablet to face him, glowing with orange marks and a vivid blue eye.

“That is a Sheikah Slate. Take it. It will help guide you after your long slumber.”

Link hesitated for a moment, a flash of doubt crossing his mind. Why was this voice in his head? Should he trust it? That doubt quickly vanished, being enveloped by curiosity at the object before him, and his soul telling him that he could trust the ghost. Link took the tablet from the pedestal, slightly jumping upon seeing a screen light up on the stone in his hands. A small ball of blue light flashed across the screen for a moment, but vanished as soon as it came.

A door opened in front of him, guiding the boy into another room filled with boxes. Two of them held clothes; ones that were ragged and somewhat tight around his body, but they would do. Link walked forward, finding another pedestal at the end of the room.

The voice guided him to the pedestal, one that opened a large door. Link walked through, flinching and shielding his eyes as sunlight poured in.

“Link…you are the light-our light-that must shine upon Hyrule once again. Now, go…”

Link stopped, sudden fear crawling into his heart. He ignored it, moving forward and climbing a stone wall with surprising ease before finding himself outside, fresh air and an enormous view encompassing his senses.

“Sheikah Slate user identified. Subject: Link.”

Link jumped out of his reverie, looking down to the stone on his hip. He went to investigate it, but was occupied by seeing a large man on the corner of his vision. His mind pushed the Slate’s oddity aside, focusing him on the other soul nearby. Link listened, following the figure, who showed him ruins that surrounded them. Link went to the biggest building, a chapel with dilapidated roads and windows around it.

“Approaching, Temple of Time.”

Link stopped dead, the Slate’s voice both breaking the silence around him and making his eyes shrink, foreign familiarity scathing his vision. The Temple seemed to reconstruct itself, with the walls becoming pristine white, and the ancient statue before him being replaced by a heavy door. A deep choir filled the air, bringing to Link’s mind a place of wonder and transition, lost to the ages.

Link’s mind returned to the present, a new curiosity coming forward. There was…someone… next to him in that place. And their voice…they sounded familiar, like an old friend that was long gone. Link shook his head, focusing his mind on a mark that had appeared on the Slate, being supported by the voice that awoke him.

Link followed the beacon, activating the pedestal and heeding its warning one second too late, just barely catching himself on the pedestal as the ground shook and the platform below him rose. When the shaking stopped, he was high in the air, able to see a large castle in the distance; surrounded by…darkness, just barely being held by a small but bright light, just like the one that awoke him.

The voice spoke again, telling Link of his century-long slumber and the monster that was the source of the castle’s darkness: Calamity Ganon. With new haste, Link climbed down the tower, moving to dash towards the castle before the man from earlier stopped him, offering the boy a way off this Great Plateau in exchange for orbs that could be found in newly awakened ‘Shrines.’

Link accepted, wandering the Plateau and scavenging whatever he could. The trials were simple enough, giving him new Runes, tools for manipulating his surroundings. With some trial and error (And more than a few bruises from too close explosions), along with…feelings from the Slate, Link conquered the tests, earning the paraglider from the old man; who revealed himself as King Rhoam, the leader of Hyrule before it fell to Calamity Ganon’s control over the kingdom’s Guardians and Divine Beasts, subjects that made another voice in Link’s head whimper. Link felt himself tear up upon hearing of Princess Zelda’s sacrifice, now understanding the gravity of the voice in his head and the situation. With a determined nod, Link sailed off the Plateau, jogging towards Kakariko Village.

“You’re now in the Kingdom of Hyrule.”

Link jumped at the Slate’s voice, now seeming to carry some peppiness to it. The Slate’s screen started to glow, condensing into a ball of light before rising just in front of Link’s face.

“What are you?” Link asked with a curious face.  
“I’m your Navigational Assistant and Vital Indicator. You can call me N.A.V.I., if you’d like!”  
“N.A.V.I.?” Link’s eyes slightly widened, remembering his vision from the Temple of Time.  
“Yes, sir! I’m here to help you on your quest. I can carry items you don’t have on hand, and map out the area for you, like when you activated the Tower.”

Link was still for a moment, quickly remembering how items he grabbed seemed to vanish if he had something already equipped. He looked at the map, seeing outlines in the blue void around the Plateau. He scrolled through, seeing what looked like items that some of the monsters he fought had held.

“What’s all this?”  
“That’s your inventory. Just select it, and I can swap out what you have now for that new item!”

Link followed N.A.V.I.’s instructions, fascination being clear in his eyes as the tattered Boko Shield on his arm vanished in blue light, being replaced by another Boko Shield, but this one looked brand new.

“Wow! What else can this thing do?”

N.A.V.I. made a delighted sound, happy to show Link her capabilities as they walked. Each discovery drew great curiosity from Link, committing each function, like the sound tracker and thermometer, to memory. Link tinkered with the Slate as he walked before approaching a stable, a deep growl coming from his stomach.

“Hey N.A.V.I., you wouldn’t happen to be able to store food, would you?”

N.A.V.I. simply nodded before guiding Link, giving him whatever he needed to cook himself a meal. A dog visited the young man, growing curious at both the tantalizing scent and the ball of light that flew around. Link simply smiled at the dog, giving it a slab of meat before grabbing his meal from the pot and sitting by the fire.

“Master Link, it’s nearly midnight. If you don’t sleep now, reaching Kakariko will be much harder.”

Link jolted from his trance, looking over to the ball of light before shaking his head.

“Yeah, you’re right.” He stood up as he yawned, giving the stablemaster his pay for the night before crawling into bed.

“Hey N.A.V.I.?”  
“Yes, sir?”  
“Don’t call me ‘Master’ or ‘Sir,’ okay? Link is just fine.”  
N.A.V.I. simply nodded, slowly fading as Link fell asleep.

Link arose slowly, walking out to the pot to cook some breakfast while taking in the fresh morning air. The sun was barely starting to rise, its light being replaced by a small blue one that was quickly becoming familiar.

“Good morning, Link. It looks like you slept well, according to your vital signs.”  
Link merely chuckled. “Yeah, I guess you could say that. How far are we from Kakariko Village?”  
“About a 2-hour run on horseback. It’d be half a day if you decide to go on foot.”

Link simply nodded as he finished his breakfast, leaving the stable just as the other patrons were waking up. He made it to Kakariko while the sun was high, being guided into Impa’s home and informed of his lost memories. N.A.V.I. had taken the elder by surprise, but she simply smiled as she was introduced.

“That spirit is a valuable ally, Link. Don’t let that potential go to waste.”

Link only nodded as he left, making his way to Hateno Village as instructed by Impa. N.A.V.I. was mostly silent as they walked, but grew excited when they reached Hateno.

“Ancient energy furnace detected!”  
“Wait, what?”

N.A.V.I. quickly zoomed forward, Link just barely managing to keep up with the ball of light. He was guided to a large stone, holding a blue flame reminiscent of the Slate and Shrines. Link had found empty lanterns along the way, so he quickly lit them with the blue flames, making the structure at the top of the nearby hill glow.

He stepped inside, finding an older man and a young girl who looked to be no more than 6 years old. The girl turned around, eyes going wide and a squeal escaping her mouth as she saw the traveler.

“Linky! You made it out! And you look a lot better than when I last saw you!”  
“Wait, when you last saw me? And who are you?”  
“What, you don’t remember me? It’s Purah, your favorite _snappy_ scientist!”

Link only stared in confusion as Purah snapped her fingers, making an odd pose with a quirky smile. Purah held still before widening her eyes slightly, slight sadness seeming to come over her face.

“You really don’t remember me, do you?”  
Link merely shook his head. “I’m sorry.”  
Purah quickly waved it off. “Eh, it’s understandable. You were in the Shrine of Resurrection for 100 years, and you took a nasty beating before that, so there were bound to be side effects.”

“She’s right. You didn’t recognize the King either at the Great Plateau, so it’s possible you have retrograde amnesia.”  
Purah nearly screamed at the ball of light emerged from the Shiekah Slate. _“What are you!?”_  
“This is N.A.V.I. She helps me work with the Slate.”  
The light simply tilted itself forward. “Nice to meet you!”  
Purah’s eyes seemed to twinkle like stars. “Amazing! This must be another tool for the Hero to use, like the Shrines! Zelda couldn’t open them because they weren’t meant for her! If this functions like the Guardians do, then who knows what-“  
“Purah, please. You’re going to lose Link.”

Purah stopped, only staring at Link and N.A.V.I., who looked behind her, seeing an older man holding a very slight smile on his face.

“It’s an honor to meet you, Master Link. My name is-“  
“-Symin, and he’s my assistant!” Purah chirped with a smirk, making Symin frown before chuckling.  
“Hey, Purah?”  
The woman-girl in question looked up.  
“Impa told me to come here. She said you could help me with some problems in the Slate?”

Purah snatched the device from Link’s hand, swiping across it furiously. She quickly stopped dead before zooming into a nearby closet, quickly scavenging what appeared to be scraps of metal, quickly taking out a blowtorch and lighting it, making Link and Symin step back. She began melting the pieces together, turning them liquid.

“Does this happen often?” N.A.V.I. asked.  
“Far too often.” Symin responded. “Once she gets an idea, there’s no stopping her.”

Link’s mind briefly flashed back, a blurry image encompassing his mind. It seemed to be…a person, with golden hair and blue clothes, looking like they were…working on something. He snapped back to reality just as quick, finding Purah looking at him with an annoyed face.

“Hey, if you’re gonna stare off, can you at least give me the Slate so I can fix it?”  
“Oh, right, sorry.” Link softly blushed as he gave her the item. Purah took the Slate to a pedestal in the lab, like what Link found in the Shrines. Like the Shrines, a stalactite began to glow, pouring a drop of energy onto the Slate’s screen, bringing a new Rune to the Slate.

“A camera?”  
“Wait a minute…I know these pictures.” Purah slowly began to shake.  
“Purah?”  
“This was Princess Zelda’s Slate. She carried it everywhere with her.”  
“Are you sure?”

“She’s right.” N.A.V.I. chimed. “Before you, Princess Zelda is encoded as the Slate’s previous owner.”  
“…Have I seen these before?”  
Purah put her hand to her chin. “Maybe. You did travel with her a lot when you were her personal Knight. N.A.V.I., can you help in any of this?”  
“On it!” N.A.V.I. dove into the Slate, emerging a moment later with a small _ting_ sound.

“Update complete. I now have the extra Runes and images in my memory files. Retrograde amnesia can be lifted by seeing similarities, so visiting these locations should get your memories back, Link!”  
“Well, Impa did say she’d have something for me if I recovered my memory. Maybe one of these things will be on our way there?”

“It’s worth a shot.” Purah shrugged.   
“Alright then. Let’s go. Thank you for everything, Purah and Symin.” Link held out his hand.  
“Aw, no. You gotta snap if you want to get out of here!” A mischievous gleam appeared in the scientist’s eyes, striking another pose with a sharp snap of her fingers. Link merely shrugged and _tried_ to mimic her. Purah rolled her eyes at Link’s attempt.

“Eh, we can’t all be winners. Now get out of here, Hero. You have a world to save, don’t you Linky?”  
“Feel free to visit if you need anything from us, Master Link.” Symin gave a small bow.  
“We will. Thanks guys!” Link turned to leave, N.A.V.I. close behind.

“Oh, and Linky!”  
Both travelers turned to the scientists.  
“Be sure to tell us anything new about N.A.V.I. when it comes up! She’s really something!”  
N.A.V.I. turned slightly redder, making Link chuckle as he walked down the hill and out of the village.

“Hey N.A.V.I.?”  
“Hm?”  
“Did this…Zelda…have blond hair?”

The sprite stopped for a moment. Link gave her a curious and concerned look as she flew back to his shoulder.

“She did.”  
“Is there anything else you can tell me about her?”

N.A.V.I. looked over, seeing a sad and nervous expression start to appear on the boy’s face.

“She’s a strong person. Though I think we should focus on getting those memories and rescuing the Divine Beasts, don’t you?”  
“Will you tell me more about her when I start to remember things?”  
“I promise.”

Link simply nodded, slightly picking up his pace and taking in a breath of fresh air. N.A.V.I. flew beside him, hopeful of what this adventure would bring, but fearful of what it would take from the boy beside her.

‘Princess, just hang on. We’ll get you out.’

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you guys enjoyed this work! I wanted to do more with this piece (like having Link uncover memories, more interactions between him and N.A.V.I.), but I didn't want this to go on forever. I'll likely revisit this A.U. in the future so I can write out those ideas, but it probably won't be for a while. Either way, tell me what you thought of the story in the comments, and have a good day!


End file.
